Forgotten Figures
by hypercupcake74
Summary: Tori loved her life as a DWMA student. It was ideal for someone like her, until forgotten memories came back. This time, to make her forgotten too.
1. Introduction

Tori's heart raced as she longed for the thrill of an ambush. Her feet pounded against the wet pavement as she raced towards the guards. She felt her mouth curl into a smile as she bashed the two men. The timing was perfect for the feeling of adrenaline. The cold damp forest after rain, and the full moon seemed to glow in the sky. It complemented her green eyes beautifully, but her sandy brown hair was a mess.  
"Tori! What are you thinking?" Her partner Davis disapproved under his breath."We need to get in unnoticed. I want things to go smoothly." He quietly explained.  
"That would take too long." Tori complained. She was impatiently anticipating action while Davis unscrewed the vent. Davis only sighed, he knew his weapon well enough to know she was going to be stubborn.

As they searched the maze of vents, Tori finally stopped.  
"We're here." She muttered. They peered through the vent to see a well-dressed business man, grinning at a suitcase full of money. The mere thought of the people the corrupt man harmed to achieve the money made her stomach turn.  
"Alright Tori, let's search the area to see if there's any men around. We can find a way to-" Davis was cut off when he turned to see empty space where Tori should've been.  
"Corrupt man Robinson, get your pathetic face away from the cash. You're pitiful life ends here." Tori snarled. When she saw the fierce eyes of the man, she smirked.  
"I've harmed many people to get this. If you think a little bitch like you can defeat me, you're sadly wrong." He snapped back. Tori gritted her teeth, but calmed down once she remembered how she was going to prove him so very wrong.  
"Tori, weapon form. Quickly, I don't want to make a mess of things." Davis sighed.  
"Sure." Tori nodded, turning into a double bladed sword. Seeing this Robinson's smirk turned to wide eyes. He bolted for the door, only to realize it was locked. He fumbled with the keys and as Davis walked closer he grabbed a metal pole and lunged. Metal clashed against metal, and Tori's heart raced with adrenaline. The man's battle cries only caused her to snicker. Along with the smooth calculated movements of Davis, it was obvious who was going to win. Swiftly, Tori cut through the metal and the man. She took the kishin egg like it was a prize.  
"Number eighty seven." She beamed. Davis smiled seeing his partner.

The next day Tori dragged Davis to the front. "Davis, stop being so lazy. We need to train more."  
"Again? We've already trained this morning, why do we need to do it again?"  
"So I can be stronger, duh. We're going to be the strongest team ever known, be thankful."  
"You're over exaggerating. Whatever, I'll train."

The two kept training until Tori's breathe felt heavier then lead.  
"Tori, I think we trained enough. My muscles ache."  
"We can push ourselves further. If we're going to be the best we need to overcome small things like this."  
"Hey." Soul greeted, as he casually walked towards the two. Tori recognized the red eyes of her close friend and smiled.  
"You guys training again? You'll never become cool if you always work so hard."  
"Yeah, Tori dragged me along again."  
"You're just lazy Davis." Tori said as she turned back to human form.  
"Everyone's going out for food. Are you coming?" Soul Invited.  
"Sure. Me and Tori will meet up with you guys." Davis responded.  
"Will we have to pay?" Tori playfully asked.  
"Maybe. So-" Soul turned to see Tori gone.  
"I'm over here." She teased.  
"You really had to do that again? Not cool."  
"Soul!" Maka called. As soon as Soul turned around, his head met a thick hardcover book.  
"What are you doing? We have class soon."  
"You didn't have to hit me." Soul grumbled. "See you guys later." He called as he walked away.  
"Bye." Maka called, as she walked back to class.  
"We should get going too." Tori said cheerfully, and dragged Davis back to class.

_Well, I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors in this story, if anyone points them out I'll be sure to fix them A.S.A.P. I hope this Fan Fiction turned out half-decent. Credit to for the cover photo._

_- HyperCupcake74_


	2. Explosion

As always, right after school Tori and Davis were studying.  
"Hey." Davis said, breaking the silence. "It's almost time to go meet up with everyone."  
Tori glanced at the clock and nodded. "Yeah." She threw on her coat and headed to Death Robbins.

"Hey guys." Tori beamed as she walked towards the group.  
"Hi." Davis echoed.  
Maka turned and waved, while Soul was still eating his frozen dessert.  
"Where's Black Star and Tsubaki?" Tori questioned.  
"They're not here yet." Maka answered.  
The group held a light-hearted conversation until a loud booming voice interrupted them.  
"Hey everyone! What's with being so quiet? Don't worry! Black Star is here to liven things up!"  
"I-I'm sorry for being so loud everyone!" Tsubaki stammered and bowed.  
"Hey Tsubaki, Black Star." Tori greeted.  
Black Star made a show of jumping in his seat and gobbling down ice cream. Of course, Soul and him fell into a competition over who could eat more.  
"Who do you think's going to win?" Tori asked over the loud eating.  
"I don't know." Davis replied.  
"Okay, you guys can stop eating now. Let's just call it a tie, your going to get a brain freeze." Tsubaki tried to reason with them.  
As if on cue, the two fell down groaning in discomfort.  
"Who's going to pay for all of this?" Davis wondered, staring down at his two friends.  
"Not me. I'm broke. I can only pay for what I ate." Tori replied.  
Everyone stared at Davis expectedly.  
"What? Why are you all staring at me?" Davis wondered, clueless. Thats when the sad realization that they wanted him to pay came in. "Why do I have to pay? Every, single, time?" He attempted to protest, but he was simply replied to with the same answer as always.  
"It's because your the rich kid." Tori explained.  
There was a long silence between everyone. Davis eventually stopped protesting and tried to flee. Unfortunately, Black Star and Soul hunted him down and he was forced to pay.  
Eventually everyone parted ways, so Tori and Soul were the only ones alone.  
"Hey Tori." Soul called.  
"Yeah?" She turned around.  
"Do you have to go? Why don't you stay here for a while, it's not cool to leave so soon."  
"Do you want me to pay for that one extra frozen yogurt your eating?"  
Soul's jaw dropped, he was shocked to the point where it was over dramatic.  
Tori tried not to laugh at this, but failed terribly. She lost her balance and tripped. At this point he would've looked like a complete klutz if she didn't flip over and land on her feet.  
"Are you okay Tori? It's not like you to trip. It's not cool."  
Tori was slightly annoyed by the reaction but didn't really mind it. She looked up to see that their noses were almost touching. She felt her heart race , embarrassed she stepped back and looked off the the side. She couldn't find words and her mouth felt dry. Her face burned up, as she tried to calm herself. Later the two talked casually, and Tori ended up paying.

Tori lie down on her bed remembering what happened yesterday. Each time she thought about it she had butterflies, which was awful since she was always thinking about it. She shook her head like it could get rid of her troubled thoughts.  
"Davis let's go train." She said to distract herself.  
Davis skimmed through his book, having nothing better to do he agreed. "Sure. Just let me finish this page."  
Tori being the impatient one, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him off.  
"No!" He whined, making the word longer then it should've been. "My page! Tori! Let me go! You made me lose my page! There was a huge psychological plot twist!" He panicked flailing his arms.

After training, the two decided to pick out a task.  
"Let's choose this one!" Tori grinned and poked the paper. "It'll be quick to get the souls we need, and I bet there will be lots of action!"  
"But it's tricky. There's lots of men, so we'll have to be careful."  
"Do I look like I care? Your like a ninja! Hard to spot, and with all the training we're sure to win by brute force! It'll be easy!" She enthused.  
After debating, Davis agreed.  
Once they got to the hideout, Tori was already brimming with anticipation. "So, this is the famous murder hideout? Davis, let's show them no mercy!"  
"You shouldn't get ahead of yourself. We need to plan things out so the operation will go well." Before Davis could fully render what was going on, Tori had already devouring a kishin egg.  
"Tori!" Davis scolded quietly.  
"Relax, this is all part of the plan." Tori assured.  
"Is that plan to bash as many people as you can and take their souls?" He questioned with folded arms.  
Tori paused for a moment. "I'm not answering." She pouted, turning away to the side.  
Davis still disapproved, yet tried his best to reason. "We should disable the security system to avoid any unwanted attention."  
"My thoughts exactly." Tori agreed. The two controlled their breathing, while hiding from cameras and guards. Eventually, they made it to the control room with two guards out front.  
"Tori! Here's our chance! Weapon form!" Davis commanded under his breath.  
The guards were only able to turn their heads before they were destroyed.  
"See Davis? Once swift cut was all it took." Tori gloated.  
"They were just small fry Tori. Don't get cocky." Davis explained.  
Tori pouted, but knew he was right. "Hey Davis, why don't we just use your form manipulation?"  
"I don't want to become dependent on that."  
Tori paused, she could tell that Davis wasn't telling her the entire truth. But she stayed quiet, assuming he didn't want to talk about it at the time.  
"Okay, let's configure this and leave. We'll find groups of men and take their souls."  
"I can finally agree with you on an action plan."  
"It's because I mentioned finding groups and taking them out."  
"Maybe."

The two opened the door and walked out. The hallway was quiet, without a single person in sight. The only sound that could be heard was the soft ticking of a clock. Thats when an alarm blared.  
"What? Did I configure it wrong?"  
"Who cares? When the men show up, let's take them all out!" Tori yelled over the alarm.  
They looked down the hallway, and saw a handful of men approaching.  
"Tori! Weapon form! Now!" Davis commanded loudly.  
Tori nodded and obeyed.  
"That's everyone!"She beamed, after counting the guards,  
One man robotically pulled out a gun and started shooting. Davis just barely dodged it, then the other men followed. Quickly, bullets were racing at the partners everywhere, Davis dodged and flipped expertly. They dodged, and deflected the bullets so fast that anyone would have missed it if they blinked. One man tried to bash Davis upside the head with a rifle. Davis was able to dodge the attack, but was startled. As payment for the hesitation, he was shot in the shoulder. "  
"Davis! Are you okay?" Tori cried out.  
"Yeah, I'm fine, it just stings a little." He lied.  
He began to spin the double-bladed sword faster, and faster. The bullets were being deflected and crushed, causing some men to step back. Davis took advantage of the confusion and propelled himself off a wall. He lunged towards the crowd, destroying and slicing men left and right. The extra forced caused blood to gush out of his shoulder. He walked towards the only two left as if he had all the time in the world. He was responded with sharp glares and dozens of bullets. He forced the bullets to the side, and jumped towards the last of the men, slicing them quickly. Soon enough, there were only kishin souls left.  
"Davis, are you okay?" Tori repeated, after collecting all the kishin souls.  
"I'm fine."  
Tori felt her muscles relax.  
"Building self destruction starting in five." A robotic voice recited.  
"Damn!" Tori cursed sharply. She grabbed Davis by the arm and ran. Even if the two had no idea where to go, they still pounded their feet against the floor.  
"Four."  
Their pace quickened, along with their breath. Tori's eyes darted everywhere.  
"Three."  
She made a sharp turn, praying that they would live. She saw a window they could jump out of, but it was at the end of the hallway, and they were on the third floor.  
"Two."  
Her breath deepened.  
"One."

_People are going to hate me for leaving a cliffhanger here. (^_^;)  
Don't worry, I'll post soon.  
- HyperCupcake74_


	3. Recovery

Just before the explosion turned them to ash, Tori and Davis flung themselves out the building. The sound of shattering glass drowned by a deafening boom. Tori gritted her teeth, her arms and knees burned in pain. Sharp glass shards pierced her flesh, and bricks were being hurled at her. She felt dizzy, luckily she was still focused enough to see the ground below. She snapped into focus and guarded her face with her arms. Quickly, she felt branches and thorns scratch her from all angles. For barely a second she was relieved, since the pain had almost vanished. Before she could even sigh in relief, she heard a snap, and felt a burning pain in her leg. She bit her lip and held back tears, the pain was awful. She felt sick, dizzy, and tired. But she was being kept awake because of the awful pain in her leg. She froze, a cold thought came creeping in. She wondered where Davis was.

"Davis?" She whispered into the darkness. "Davis! Davis!" She called out. She could barely choke up his name. _" What if, what if he's hurt? What if he's dead? How will I-I, how could I live with that? This is all my fault, I should have listened to him." _She thought, whimpering and struggling to hold back tears. _"No, he's alive! I can't afford to think like that. Davis, your alive right? I'm sorry Davis. I'm so sorry." _Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.  
"Tori!" Davis called, his hair was a mess, and there were scars all over his face.  
"Davis! I'm here!" She forced out the words, trying to hide the fact that here voice was shaky.  
"I was looking everywhere for you. Why are you just laying here?"  
"I think I broke my leg."  
"What?" Davis fretted. "I'll have a look." He knelt and delicately touched her knee.  
"Ow!" She yelped.  
Davis's hand jumped back at her sudden reaction. He sighed and shook his head. "I found a window to a storage shack nearby. I'll go tell lord death our current situation."  
"Okay." Tori nodded. She turned away, she felt helpless and she hated it. How was she going to do anything exciting like this? She felt like a rabbit stuck in a trap.  
"Alright, I'm back. They'll send someone over soon." Davis informed.  
Tori nodded. "Cool story bro."  
"You're impossible." He groaned.

"Your back." Tori cheered, as her apartment door opened. "How was the surgery?"  
"It was fine, how's your leg?" Davis replied.  
Tori paused, she hated her broken leg almost as much as people pointing it out. "It's fine." She answered shortly.  
Tori bought take out, so the two talked over lunch.  
Tori sighed heavily. "Lord death did what?" Tori grumbled face down on a table.  
"Well, as punishment for destroying the building, he took all of our kishin egg souls." Davis repeated.  
"I know that, I'm just shocked." Tori continued. "So, what was the cause?"  
"Half of it was the misconfigured system, the other half was the battle."  
"So I can't blame the whole thing on you?" Tori teased.  
"Yeah. The whole thing was both our fault."  
"Damn." Tori pouted.

Luckily, Tori and Davis recovered quickly.  
As always, Tori and Davis trained for hours.  
"Class is about to start. Let's get going Tori."  
"Sure." The two walked and Davis left for his locker.  
"Hey Tori." Soul called.  
Tori recognized her friend's voice. She instantly thought of the moment they were too close. Her heart skipped a beat. "Oh, hi." She responded cooly.  
"Everyone's going to go see a movie."  
"Which one?"  
"I don't know." He replied carelessly.  
_"He's inviting me to watch a movie, even though he doesn't know which one it is?" _She thought. "Ok, sure. I'm heading off to class." She added, leaving.  
The next day, she got a phone call.  
"Hello?" Tori spoke into the phone.  
"Hey Tori!" The voice boomed.  
"Oh god. Tori already knew who this was. "Hey Black Star."  
"Tell everyone that unfortunately yo guys wont be blessed with my awesome presence! I'm busy that day and Tsubaki is cheering me on because I'm a star!"  
Tori groaned. "Oh no. That's awful. Don't worry, I'll be strong and go anyways." She replied sarcastically.  
"Great job Tori! I know I'm the greatest, so it must be hard! Don't push yourself! Black Star out!" Her cheered.  
Tori sighed, she might as well tell Maka and Soul.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi Maka, do you mind telling Soul that Black Star can't make it to the movies?"  
"Sure, I'll tell him. I can't make it either."  
"Oh, okay. Thanks."  
"Bye Maka."  
"Bye."  
Tori groaned, Davis couldn't make it since he said he was helping Maka. Now it would be just the two of them. She was interrupted by her ringtone.  
"Hey Tori, do you still want to go to the movies? It's not cool that everyone suddenly dropped out."  
"Sure, I'll go."  
"Cool. See ya."  
"Bye."  
Tori put down the phone and felt her heart pound. She reminded herself to calm down. _"I'm just hanging out with a friend. There's no reason to feel this way."_ Her thoughts were in vain, she couldn't calm herself down. She fell asleep frustrated with herself.


	4. Remedial Lesson

Tori saw a hill with a tree on it. How she got there, she didn't remember. She just knew she was there at the moment. Playing on the hill were two small girls. They were giggling and playing completely absorbed into their own game, oblivious to anything else. They were smiling sweet innocent smiles. One had sandy brown hair and green eyes like her own. The other seemed distant and hazy to her, she couldn't recall anything, even though the girl was right in front of her. She watched the two play on the hill for a while, time was still. The clouds didn't move despite the cool breeze, and the sun stayed high in a deep blue sky. Tori looked down, remembering how children like these ended up getting hurt by the injustice of the world. She cut off her own thoughts, all that mattered right now was the present. She didn't bother worry that they might spot her, she knew that they couldn't see her. Even if she were to try to greet them, they wouldn't be able to hear her. There was no reason to know this, she just knew.

"Hey, there's something written here." The one with the sandy brown hair pointed out. She pointed at a small carving in the tree. It was two soul silhouettes joined together.

"Huh? Oh I see!" The other chirped.

"It's some kind of charm, to stay with someone you care about."

"I wish we had some kind of charm like that."

"Why don't we do the same thing then?"

"I want to, but why did they have to carve it on the tree? It makes me sad, it must have hurt the poor tree."

"We can go to the beach and find seashells then. We'll find two exactly alike. That will act like some kind of magic charm. Like the picture book we read."

"Okay, that sounds like fun!" The other cheered.

They both ran while giggling, as if they were in some kind of race.

Tori felt as heavy as lead, it was difficult to move, or speak. She felt dizzy, everything was blurry. Eventually she disappeared, and woke up. Tori's eyes gently opened, she squinted at the bright light. She found the sound of the television in the nest room annoying, but that was probably only because it had woken her.

Tori wasn't too thrilled about her mixed emotions, what made them worse was that she sat besides Soul in class. She overheard other students talk about the souls they collected, and the latest rumours. Tori knew all too well about the rumours. There was one that her last teacher, Sid had been killed and was terrorizing students. She hoped it was nothing except a rumour, she was fond of her teachers. She looked up to see Maka's father walked in, full of confidence.

"Alright everyone!" He arrogantly started. "Quiet down, class is starting." He walked to the middle of the room with a sharp glare. "Attendance is a pain, so I won't do it." He put down the clipboard. "I'll also say something up front. The bell doesn't decide when the class ends, I do." He stated forcefully.

There was a mixture of irritated and amazed reactions from the class. "Hey." Soul started. "Why do I get the feeling your loser dad is looking over here with a weird look on his face?"

"You must be imagining things." Maka muttered off to the side.

Tori realized Soul was right. There were practically flowers floating around him. The three were visibly irritated, while Davis sat there quietly, not seeming to care.

"By the way, Davis, Tori, Maka, Soul. Lord death called for you. Shoo, shoo."

"Hm?" Tori looked confused.

"I wonder what Lord death could want with us?" Maka wondered aloud, as the group walked towards the death room.

Tori and Davis exchanged confused glances. "Maybe he wants to congratulate us!" Tori beamed.

"Your just flattering yourself." Davis sighed.

"I tried Davis. Don't ruin my moment." Tori grumbled while they headed to the middle of the death room.

"Who cares what he's calling us for? It's not going to change how cool I am." Soul remarked.

The conversation was interrupted by a loud, arrogant voice.

"Assassin rule number one! Silence - Dissolve into the darkness and erase your breath! Wait for an opening to attack your target!"

"Huh?" Tori looked up to see Black Star shouting.

"Hi Black Star." Davis greeted.

"What are you doing up there?" Maka questioned.

Black Star was frozen, looking appalled.

"They completely noticed us." Tsubaki sighed, halfway transforming to human form.

This was responded by a proud laugh. "Guess my Star-ness came to my disadvantage again!"

"So, did Lord death call you guys here too?" Maka asked.

"Yeah, what does he want with us?" Black Star responded.

The group continued to walk ahead.

"Hello everyone!" The high pitched voice of Lord death called. "I've called you here today to do a little remedial lesson!"

"What?" Tori jumped back from shock.

"You mean the ones idiots take?" Maka gasped.

"I'm going to be an all powerful death scythe, I'm not doing that." Soul rejected.

Tsubaki was just standing there, looking shocked.

"Well, if you don't do this then you'll just have to be expelled."

"What? He's going to kick us out?" The group yelled in unison, excluding Black Star.

"Just leave it to me!" Black Star cheered, not understanding the severity of the situation.

The rest of day Tori was too stressed too much to pay attention to her regular classes. Her remedial lesson was tomorrow, if she failed, she was expelled. But, her mind couldn't help wandering back to the class where she lost her souls. Her actions aren't only affecting her, it was affecting Davis. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, causing her hair to become a mess again. When she returned to her apartment, she turned to Davis. "Davis, what do you think we should do for the remedial lesson?" She asked, with a heavy feeling in her heart.

Davis turned to Tori, confused by her sudden question. She didn't usually ask for his input, but she may as well tell her now. "Well, one thing's for sure. We cannot fail." He started, emphasizing 'cannot' more than necessary. "We should check by Sid's grave first to make sure if he's there or not. The sooner we track him down, the better." He paused, in case Tori felt like interrupting him. "After we do that, it would be best to quickly capture him." He picked up his mp3 player off of the dining table. "We can discuss a plan later, but it's impossible to plan things out without knowing enough about the situation."

Tori nodded in acknowledgment. She sighed in relief, she didn't know why but listening made her feel relieved of the weight in her heart.


	5. Blinded by rage

Both Tori and Davis agreed they should train before the remedial class.  
Tori walked through the door, forcing her boots into the floor with each step. She was frustrated, who wouldn't be? A remedial class? Why the hell did she have to take one of those? She narrowed her eyes and frowned, staring at the ground. Damn it! She didn't want to, she couldn't fail this damned class. She clenched her fists, swearing under her breath. In the sea of burning anger, there was a ping of another emotion. Humiliation, it brought her heart down, and quickly devoured most of the anger. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, slowly flooding herself with hate again. She decided it was better to feel angry then to feel humiliation. Humiliation only brought tears, and that would reveal weakness, she needed to be strong. For Davis, and herself. She waited quietly for Davis, leaning against the wall while crossing her arms. In the midst of all her emotions, she heard a group of three girls talking.

"Hey I heard Tori has to take a remedial lesson." The tallest one giggled. Even though her voice was cheerful, she was smirking. Her short red hair reflected the cruel smile on her face far too much.

"She's such an idiot, it doesn't surprise me." Another sneered. The look on her face almost mirrored the one with the red hair. Tori saw a striking resemblance only for a split second. The two looked nothing alike, she was short, had dark brown hair, they were almost opposites.

One stayed quiet and listened. Only slightly shorter than the first, but the two were obviously related.

" I know right?" The tallest one agreed. "She's so loud, it's like, shut up bitch." She sneered.

Tori was fed up, she heard enough of this. She wasn't going to just stand there and take their taunting. If they weren't going to shut up, she was going to make them. Without even thinking, she walked up to the three girls and growled. "You want to fight whore?" She snarled.

The opposites looked at her like she was crazy. Or not worth their time, at least. "Go away you bitch." The tall one commanded.

Tori felt her blood boil, and felt like she may explode from hate. She almost slapped the tall one. She only just met her, but she could already tell she was the leader. Instead, she shoved the girl. "You going to shut up, or do you want to fight?" She gave the girl a glare she wanted to give every single evil person she met. The tall one stood there paralyzed for a second, then looked furious. Her face turned red and Tori thought that she was going to scream, but she didn't. Despite the silence of the girl, Tori still wanted to destroy her. It was probably her anger, the anger that was born out of regret and humiliation. Tori already knew what was going to happen, she was going to take her anger out on this girl.  
"Your a disgusting, vile, waste of flesh." She quietly growled through her teeth. Her words were like knives, she saw the shock and hurt in the tall girls face. "So just shut the fuck up!" By the time she finished she was screaming. It didn't take long for her and the girls to realize that the room was silent. They were the center of attention now. But Tori didn't care, she was channeling everything around her out. Her undivided attention was focused on the fury she felt towards the girl.

The girl let out a bloodcurdling scream and lunged towards Tori.  
This was responded to with a flurry of kicks and punches. Tori punched the red haired girl harshly in the face, she could hear the sound of the impact. The two other girls stood there, shaking from head to toe. The red haired girl continued to try to hurt Tori, she kicked and clawed. She managed to make a long scar down Tori's hand. Tori's heart pounded, she could hear her own heartbeat.  
"Jillian, stop! You'll lose!" The other red haired girl cried.  
Jillian, so that's what the bitch's name was.  
"Shut up! I don't wanted you involved! There's no way I'm losing to this bitch!"  
Tori heard enough, she hit Jillian so hard, the fell over from the impact.  
"You've already lost." She snarled coldly. The continued to smash the girl with her heel. There was whimpering coming from her friends.  
"Dear lord." One sobbed. "She's going to kill her."  
Tori didn't kill Jillian, but she caused quite a bit of damage. Tori glared at the girl once more, before turning on her heel and walking away. She didn't look back. The only sound in the dojo, was the sound of her boots, echoing through the room with each step she took. She walked through the hallway, and met Davis halfway. "Hey Davis." She whispered softly.  
"Hey." He greeted back, oblivious to the harm his partner just done.  
"Let's go train somewhere else." She requested, staring at the ground with a cold expression.  
Tori needed to train, she cooled down now and regretted the murderous act she just done. That girl, Jillian, she was a bitch, the school bully. Yet, she overreacted. There was no need to act so cruel, but she did. She took out all her anger on Jillian, but she was too proud to apologize.

Tori was busy training with Davis. She continued to train and train. Even when her lungs felt like they were on fire, she trained. She needed the training for something other than the remedial lesson too. She needed to keep her mind off of what happened. Davis was working just as hard, but for different reasons. He didn't need to get his mind off anything, it was the opposite. He was focused on the remedial class and what would happen if he failed. If he was kicked out, then what did he work so hard to achieve? Why was so much sacrificed? His tragic past wouldn't be in vain. He swore that.  
The partners didn't have a clue what the other was thinking. It was fine, they didn't need to, not yet.

Once Tori and Davis completed all their work, they trained. All they could think about, was training to complete that remedial lesson. Eventually they were so tired they couldn't continue. By that time it was sunset, so they took a break. Tori wasn't a cook and neither was Davis, so they got take-out. Tori bought chicken, or at least chose chicken and made Davis pay for it. She was only teasing him, and yet he paid anyways. Davis only learned this after the event much to his dismay. It was a lighthearted and cheerful break, but it was short. Their remedial lesson was soon, they couldn't afford to be late. They couldn't afford to fail.


	6. Fighting with the Dead

The two were walking to meet up with everyone at Sid's graveyard.  
"Tori, what happened in the Dojo?" Davis asked casually.  
"What?" Tori jumped, startled by the question. "Why do you ask?"  
Davis paused for a moment, looking down at the ground. Tori couldn't read anything from his actions, all she could do was try to act calm.  
"You were intent on training in the Dojo, yet as soon as we met up you suddenly changed your mind."  
"Oh." Tori held back a sigh of relief. "I just changed my mind." She replied lamely.  
Davis stayed quiet, not daring to press any further.  
The rest of the way was silent, the only noise was muffled footsteps.

"Hey Tsubaki, Davis, are you sure this is where we should be looking?" Black Star questioned.  
"Might as well check this place to be sure he isn't here." Tsubaki replied.  
"Well, it's a large group against one zombie. Shouldn't be too hard. How do we make him appear anyways?" Davis thought aloud.  
Tori gritted her teeth, glaring at the tombstone. She was not going to be expelled because some damned zombie wouldn't show up.  
In the background of all the stress, Soul could be heard yelling in the background. "I'm not going to let myself be expelled over some walking dead guy! Come out zombie! Come out! I never even listened to your lessons! So there!" He laughed crazily.  
"Soul seems, a bit disturbed." Tsubaki commented.  
"I'm going to beat that zombie to a pulp." Tori muttered under her breath.  
"I thought I was a great scythe meister like my mother was. How can I suddenly be expelled?" Maka whimpered, sprawled out against a dead tree.  
Davis looked concerned. "Maka, of course your a great scythe meister. You're being too hard on yourself. Your not expelled, all we have to do is find and defeat this guy." He comforted while Soul and Black Star shouted in the background.  
"This is stupid. Where is he?" Tori grumbled.  
A few minutes went by, thinking and waiting. Soul and Black Star still yelling comically, Tsubaki trying to calm them down. The air was cold, sending shivers down Tori's spine. It was dark, and silent. A shrill scream was heard from the area where Maka was. Tori whipped around to see a blue zombie grabbing Maka where she once lay.  
"So girl, are you scared? I think you are." Sid growled holding a knife.  
"Maka!" Davis and Soul yelled in unison.  
"Tori, weapon form. Now." Davis ordered.  
"Right!" Tori agreed, turning into her usual double-bladed sword.  
Soul turned into a scythe and hurled himself at Sid, releasing Maka. Before Sid had a chance to react, Maka grabbed the scythe and propelled herself away from what was left of her former teacher.  
"So, that's what sid's become?" Maka glared at the creature that threatened her life seconds ago.  
"Guess so." Soul answered.  
"Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Davis, Tori." Sid paused for a moment. "Good morning, good afternoon, good night."  
"Tell me Sid, why are you doing this?" Maka questioned.  
"Being a zombie is amazing. Why don't you die? You'll be free from the fear of death."  
"That's wrong and you know it." Maka snapped.  
Without warning, Sid propelled himself towards Maka smashing his fist towards her. She narrowly dodged his attack, leaving him to create a crater in the ground.  
"That's the kind of man I was. But I'm a zombie now, and I've been released of the fear of death!"  
Tori glared at her former teacher. "That's cowardly! I refuse to die just to run away from my fears!" she snapped.  
Davis quickly launched himself back a few feet. Sid had grabbed his tombstone and obliterated the ground where Davis once was.  
"Hey teach, this is going to be interesting. Now I get to teach you a lesson, and it's coming from me so you Know it will be a big one!" Black Star remarked, hurling his weapon towards Sid.  
Quickly enough Sid had caught it and completely rebound the attack. "You know, I was never the kind of man to hold back!" Sid yelled, Black Star was sent flying. Black Star was too persistant and strong to give up after that, he launched himself towards Sid. Quickly enough Sid counterattacked and Black Star blocked with his foot. However the strength was too much, Black Star was sent flying again.  
"Black Star!" Maka called.  
"And now I'll teach you how to die!" Sid yelled.  
Davis came rushing to his friends aid. Launching himself towards Sid, a blade and tombstone clashed together, leading to slicing off a handful of stone.  
Tori's temper rose quickly, she loathed that zombie.  
She felt burning disrupting pain throughout her body. Quickly enough, it was muffled, yet there was still a slight dull pain. Before Davis could counter attack, Sid had hit them harshly with his tombstone. By instinct, Davis blocked, and counter attacked. He was slashing furiously at the zombie in front of him. Sid dodged the attack, while Davis was off guard Sid swiftly smashed his tombstone, aiming for the meisters' head. The tombstone was inches away from Davis, when he jumped backwards. Maka quickly joined the battle, attacking Sid who hurled himself away. Davis pursued closely, when close enough he bashed the blade into the tombstone Sid held. Sid quickly jumped back and smashed his tombstone into the meisters weapon. The attacks were harsh and powerful, Davis struggled to keep his block intact. His muscles ached from the tension, and eventually Davis was forced down to his knees.  
"Davis, what the hell are you doing?" Tori snapped. Of course, she was panicking over the battle. Anyone would if their life and future depended on the battle.  
Tori's fretting was only made worse, since Sid successfully hit Davis with his tombstone. Sid wasn't holding back, fully prepared to deal the final blow.  
"Davis!" Tori cried. "Pay attention! Damn it!"  
Davis just barely dodged the K.O attack. Sid used most of his energy to hit Davis, missing narrowly. He jumped back, hurling himself away from the scene.  
"Tori, let's use that form manipulation." Davis muttered.


	7. Painful distortions

Tori paused, silence seemed to seep into her, flooding her.  
Then reality sank in. This was really happening. Her heart beat faster, adrenaline pumped throughout her very being. It took everything in Tori's will to hold back a grin. She wanted to scream "Finally!". However, she managed to stay quiet. Tori smirked and nodded, responding to Davis, brimming with excitement. The celebration was cut short. A harsh dull pain slashed at her head. The pain only grew. It was like someone grabbed a sledgehammer, and was hitting her with all they had. She gritted her teeth to the point they might break. The pain clouded her mind, while she struggled stubbornly to stay focused. Then, the pain spread like a virus. Every breath she took, every time her heart beat, her body went up in flames. It was like the sensation was clawing from her insides, trying desperately to get out. The blades of her weapon form ached and burned. She was startled to realize that the world in front of her was getting blurry, and her grasp of consciousness was slipping. Tori felt the world around her slipping away, trying to grasp onto reality. With a start, everything stopped. It was like it never happened. Tori's world screeched to a halt. She realized that Davis knew about this. He knew that the form manipulation would cause her pain.

Tori shook her thoughts away, quickly regaining her clear and fierce mind.  
She realized she needed to focus. Tori's weapon form changed dramatically. The blades were twisted and deformed, but much more menacing. Once again, adrenaline flooded Tori's soul. Davis lurched to the side. He rushed towards Sid, swinging his weapon at the zombie fiercely. He was greeted with a tombstone to the head. Davis was sent into the dirt.  
"Davis!" Tori yelped.  
Davis slowly got back to his feet, stumbling. He looked up, eyes cold, face distorted with hate. "I'm fine." His head throbbed with sharp quick pain. He ignored this, and charged at his opponent. Sid hesitated for a moment. Taking advantage of that, Tori's blades were thrown into a flurry of jabs and slashes. The extra strain caused Davis's body to ache, blood dripped from his forehead. The satisfaction of finally inflicting damage to the zombie was worth it. Davis quickly hurled himself backwards, a cold gaze still centered on Sid.  
Maka's control on Soul was wavering. Quickly enough, she was spinning out of control. Her mind was dizzy and chaotic. She regained her footing to see a mass amount of destruction, caused by her and Soul. She stood there shocked for a moment. Then her green eyes carefully scanned the area for Sid. Once her eyes finally landed on him, she charged. Pushing herself off the ground with great force, she swung the scythe at Sid. Just narrowly, she missed.  
Sid disappeared into the ground. Within moments, it was like he was never there. A few meters away, Black Star was speaking in a low tone to Tsubaki. His expression changed, like he knew something. Gracefully and swiftly, the chains of Tsubaki's chains formed a star. The air softly whistled through the dead hollow trees, and Davis could feel vibrations underneath his feet. When he turned to see Black Star and Tsubaki, he saw Sid, tangled in chains.  
The group seemed to all breath a sigh of relief. Quickly, the stressful atmosphere almost evaporated. It lifted the group of friends up, relieving them of weighing emotions.

Tori was clearly irritated, she made no attempt to hide that fact.  
She focused her unnerving gaze on Sid. For a hostage, he was stubborn and uncooperative. Sid sat motionless, disturbed by the gaze of Tori. However, his dead face didn't reveal any information. Davis stayed calm, grudgingly accepting the fact that he would have to find another way to get the zombie to talk. He stood a little straighter. Although Davis considered himself a tolerant enough person, he found this blue gorilla with a pig nose extremely irritable. He wasn't fond of the fact that Black Star and Tsubaki were the ones to capture Sid either.  
"Who turned you into a zombie?" Soul demanded, frustrated. "Well? Hey! Talk!"  
"You would be better off telling us. A Maka chop really hurts."  
Everyone excluding Tsubaki paused, knowing full well of the pain Maka could inflict. Tori wondered where Maka got those books anyway.  
"I was always a man who was able to keep secrets! That hasn't changed!" Sid snapped.  
Davis noticed that Tori and Maka were filled with frustration and anger by now. If Sid didn't stop soon, then Davis didn't know what the two were capable of.  
Black Star stood there, silent. With a sudden movement, he flipped up Tsubaki's skirt. "It was doctor stein!" Sid replied instantly.  
Tori suddenly felt grateful that she always wore pants.  
"So where is he?" Black Star questioned further.  
"I'm not talking! I was always the kind of man that was stubborn!"  
Alright. That was it. Tori needed to kill this guy. Now. She slowly stepped closer to the zombie. After a long pause, she smashed the blue zombie with the heel of her boot. "He's at his research lab outside of Death City." Sid grumbled, face covered with dirt and pain. Tori felt satisfied for now. All she had to do was fetch 's soul. After she completed that, she could interrogate Davis on form manipulation.

At that moment in time, she had no idea what she was up against.


	8. Sacrifices

The group of students stepped carefully towards the lab in front of them.  
Tsubaki stood by, still holding Sid captive. Tori analyzed the tall grey building. It was decorated oddly with stitches. It reminded her of the movie "Frankenstein". The air had a cold, sinister feeling it brought along with it. The wind softly whistled through crooked trees while the moon chuckled ominously. She then heard creaking and rumbling from inside the lab. Davis shifted his weight, getting in stance to fight. The shrill sounds of creaking got louder. Slowly, it ate away at the still silence, eventually consuming all sound around it. Tori's ears were filled with the sole sound. Her muscles seemed like they were begging her to move, to fight. She tried to suppress her bloodlust, drowning out the temptation. A figure quickly appeared, falling over in a wheeled chair.  
"Damn!" The man with the lab coat paused. "Maybe it's this?" He turned the head of the screw in his head. "O.K, let me try that again." He had grey hair, and a screw on one side of his head. He didn't seem to care about the response from the group, as he was already walking away, dragging his chair behind him. He ended up falling again. Everyone excluding the man stood there silently, as they were creeped out. Tori could only assume that man was . It appeared that he realized he wouldn't be able to achieve the performance he was hoping for. "Do you have some business with me?" He questioned.  
"You're right? We've come to eat your soul." Soul responded, grinning.  
"I assume you're students from Shibusen."  
"You're him aren't you. The one attacking Shibusen. What do you have against it?" Maka questioned. She paused for a moment. "Hey Soul, don't you feel strange?"  
"No."  
Stein chuckled menacingly. "A hardworking serious person, and a sarcastic twisted person. You aren't working together."  
The partners were taken aback. "You can see our souls? Your a tech! Maka, you can see that too can't you?"  
"Of course." She replied. "To see our personalities, you must be a first class tech." Maka turned to the strange man.  
His piercing gaze fell upon Tori and Davis. "A calm strong willed person, and a fiery adventurous person. You two won't work, your polar opposites."  
Tori stood there, taken aback and creeped out. was unsettling. "Your soul's quivering quite a bit."  
"Shut up!" She snapped. The doctor sounded like a pervert.  
An obnoxious laughter echoed loudly. " I don't care about other people's souls! Stop your boring talk for commoners and we'll start an intelligent conversation about me!" Black Star approached the group of people, grinning. "I don't care wether or not you can see people's souls!" He ran towards the doctor, flinging himself off of the ground.  
"A self absorbed soul. It would be almost impossible to find a partner to suit a soul like yours." Stein analyzed. He swiftly dodged a flurry of kicks. Before Black Star could respond, hit him harshly upside the head.  
"Black Star!" Tsubaki cried out.  
"Hm? You must be his partner. Co-operative and has lots of space to accept people." paused. "Anyways, I've collected enough data." Tori was able to see how tall he was once he stood up. "Shall we start the session?"  
As soon as those words came out of Stein's mouth, Davis sprinted towards his target. His breaths were deep and uneven. He swung his double-bladed sword at the man with everything in his being. Seconds before the metal made contact with flesh, Stein deflected the attack. For half a second, Davis froze. The look in Stein's eyes changed, and his mouth curled into a cold smirk. Davis felt a painful jolt coarse through his body. The world around him was blurry and unclear. He felt like he was floating. Then everything flashed bright, and he tasted dirt. Tori felt herself smash against the ground.

Maka ran at the crazed man in the lab coat. Slashing at him with everything she was capable of. Effortlessly, Stein dodged and counterattacked. Maka flipped and landed back on her feet, almost mirroring a cat. "Maka the scythe-user. I wonder where it was I heard it before." sorted through his memories, with a bored look on his face. "Ah!" His eyes lit up. "Your spirit's daughter!" He exclaimed. Maka stood a little straighter, almost jumping. It was obvious from her reaction he was right.  
"Spirit?" Soul questioned.  
"That was his name before he became 'Death Scythe'." She explained.  
Stein chuckled, a cool smirk on his face. "I still remember his sleeping face." He paused for a moment, recollecting everything. "So you're his daughter. The daughter of the woman who stole my ingredient." She gave Maka a cold, crazed glare. She froze, paralyzed from fear. He laughed. "I want to dissect you." His face twisted into an awful, distorted grin. He sat back into his wheeled chair, rushing at Maka. She quickly blocked the palm of his hand using her scythe. Within seconds, they were smashed with his soul wavelength. A sharp pain filled the partners, eating away at their senses.  
"What the hell did he do?" Soul muttered.  
Davis scrambled to grab his weapon and threw himself off the ground. He looked like a lion, stalking it's prey with intent. Tori paused, taken aback. Was Davis always like this? Did he have such a strong will once everything was on the line? Or did she change him? She felt like there was something blocking her throat. Tori swallowed back her worry, and refocused on . Davis forced himself to dash toward Stein, feeling like he might collapse under his own weight. He launched himself off of the ground, hurling his sword at the man. He was hit with the soul wavelength too. His grip on his weapon tightened, and he pushed through the pain. He swung ferociously at Stein. Steins hesitated for a moment, suppressing any visible hints of it. Then he pounded at Davis to a pulp with his foot, sending him flying. Davis strained himself, recovering midair from the attack. He landed delicately at the ground, only to sink to his knees. He already realized that the man was only toying with them. However, he refused to back down willingly. Davis decided to conserve energy, as an excuse to rest. Part of him knew, that despite the fact he was losing, he would only keep attacking, in hopes of helping the others. Tori, felt a heavy weight placed onto her shoulders. She felt her heart pound, and her mind was being consumed by the need to feel adrenaline. Her pride wouldn't allow her to loser, and her recklessness refused to let her bend down. She glanced over at Maka, who was frozen and shaking. Maka's breaths were uneven, and her eyes were wide.  
"Maka! Get it together! Your breathing and wavelengths are all over the place!"  
Maka screamed, and swung harshly at . "Wait! Maka!" Souls warnings fell upon deaf ears. Stein effortlessly blocked and hit them with his soul wavelength. Soul coughed up blood.

held Maka, like a cat playing with a mouse before it kills. He admired her with a twisted expression, like an artist before he painted a picture. "You have such smooth skin." He snickered. Stein grabbed a marker, writing lines on her stomach. "Where should we put the knife in first?" Maka weakly tried to protest. "Shall we make your skin into sandpaper?" Davis gritted his teeth, feeling sick to the stomach. Tori scanned her prey for an opening. She was far past disappointed to realize that she had no way of attacking.  
"Don't forget I exist! I'll smash your glasses!" Black Star scowled.  
"It won't work." said dismissively.  
"Your not the only damn one who can hit with your 'soul wavelength'!" Black Star had a cocky grin on his face, mixed with anger.  
"What?" turned around, bewildered.  
Power surged throughout Black Star. "Black Star big wave!"  
The sheer amount of force used to attack crushed the earth underneath Black Star. Stein lurched forward from the impact, releasing Maka.  
The power from the attack vanished halfway through. Stein turned around, a sly look on his face. "This one surprised me." He smirked, seeing the surprise on Black Stars face. "I altered my soul wavelength to match yours. Much like a miester and his weapon. The moment that happens, the attack loses effect."  
Shock paralyzed the group of students. Steins lurched towards Black Star, hand prepared to attack. Tori froze. She remembered what true fear was like. Tori's mind had already realized it, she just had trouble choking it down. Black Star, might die. Automatically, and robotically, she ran with every bit of strength she had, seconds before Black Star was hit, she shoved him out of the way.  
A shrill scream escaped her, she coughed up blood, and she fell limp to the ground. She was knocked unconscious, in the place where Black Star should've been.  
For a moment, time froze. Then reality sank in.  
"Tori!" The group of students yelled out in concern.  
"Damn it Tori. Why do you always have to act without thinking, and put yourself in danger?" Davis muttered.  
Once again the world around them froze. Maka sat there, paralyzed, just a few inches away. Davis, Soul and Black Star crowded her. Tsubaki was on the verge of tears.  
"Tori, you didn't have to do that. I'm a star! I can take care of myself!" Black Star enthused. A little piece of Tori still remembers that. How she unknowingly hurt everyone, when she was trying to save them.  
"Tori." Soul whispered, struggling to find words.  
"She'll be fine." Davis assured. "I'll use form manipulation to speed up healing."  
Soul nodded stiffly.  
"Tsubaki, go. I won't run or hide." Sid told her. Tsubaki hesitated, glancing over at him. "Go!" He pressured. Tsubaki rushed to aid her now unconscious friend.  
"Stein! I won't forgive you! You bastard!" Soul growled.  
"Tsubaki." Black Star commanded.  
"Right!" Tsubaki didn't need words to understand. She quickly transformed into weapon form, fully prepared to attack.  
Maka sat there shaking. "No." She barely whispered. Her fear grew, blinding her. Fear and anxiety wrapped around her and tightened like a boa constrictor.  
"What's up?" Soul demanded.  
"I see it." She responded, shakily and uneven. "It's no good. We can't win."  
Black Star was deaf to remarks like that. He ignored it and continued with his battle against Stein. He kicked, and slashed. He hurled himself back, then attacked with everything he had. If someone blinked they would have missed half of it. The look in Black Star's eyes changed. Even in you weren't as perceptive as Stein, you would've been able to sense the change in the blue haired miester. His new determination had sent Stein onto defensive, and now Stein wasn't going to hold back.


	9. Tori the troll

Stien dodged the sharp kicks Black Star launched effortlessly. He smirked coldly. For such an annoying child, Black Star had an immense amount of potential. He took a mental note of that, wondering how far he could push the blue haired pest. However, that was an experiment for another time. He gathered enough energy, and assaulted Black Star violently with his soul wavelength. Black Star, was left on the ground, nothing but a barely breathing, feeble body lying on the ground. Tsubaki's breath stopped for a moment. Everything seemed unreal. It was like a terrible, horrible nightmare that she couldn't wake up from. Then realization hit her, pounding against her heart, making her dizzy and miserable.  
"Black Star!" Tsubaki cried out. Full of shock and pain. Her meister was laying on the cold ground, and all she could do was sit there beside him. Soul gritted his teeth, full of rage. Damn, that creep. It only caused him to insist on his meister fighting more fiercely. "Maka! Get up and fight!" He insisted. "Get it together! What's wrong? Maka! You idiot! What are you doing? Get up!" Soul was on the verge of shouting now.  
"Shut up!" Maka snapped. "You wouldn't be saying that if you could see his soul!"  
"All you saw was his soul? Right?" Soul roared. "You didn't see the future or anything! Get up! You're going to collect souls and make me the world's best death scythe, right?" She was shaking Maka violently. "Raise your head I'm talking to you!"  
Maka stayed silent, but complied.  
"Look at that guy, even though your wasting time, he's still waiting for us. He's a decent guy."  
Maka felt like a heavy weight was lifted off her shoulder. She managed a cheerful smile. "Sorry for wasting time Soul." She grabbed her now scythe partner.  
"Let's go! Soul resonance!" The two yelled in unison.  
Stein silently scanned the pair, impressed with their abilities. "It seems you want to finish in one attack. Bring it! Show me your souls!"  
Despite Davis constantly correcting Tori, she still remembers that as 'show me your moves'!  
Unbearable amounts of power rushed through the two students. It felt amazing, and ferocious. Stein shakily struggled to repel the attack with his hands. The tension caused his glasses to break.

Stein's control regained it's footing, and he caused the power to vanquish. "It seems your barely conscious." Stein snickered.  
Soul quickly transformed to guard Maka. "I won't let you touch my meister!" He snarled.  
"In that case I'll..." Stein's voice trailed off. "Give you a passing point. The extra lesson is complete."  
Soul froze, full of shock. "But didn't you kill Black Star and Tori?" Soul flung his arm, pointing at his friends.  
Black Star was able to summon a cocky laugh. "Don't be silly."  
Tori, now functional but weak, replied. "I'm alive. So your life is still beautiful." She laughed. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine!"  
"He's alive? Then that damn zombie is..."  
"Sorry." Sid chuckled. "I wasn't the kind of person to trick people, but that was when I was alive."  
"No way." Maka groaned.  
"What the hell? Everything was a setup!" Soul realized angrily.  
"It was interesting to run you pests as well." Stein smirked.  
Tori froze. The sadistic part was real? Damn. Well, at least she would never have to see that guy again.  
The next day in class Tori wondered who was going to be her new teacher. It was Stein. He rolled into the class on his chair. Davis, was quiet, but obviously upset. "He's taking all the attention." Black Star grumbled.  
"This is the only time I've ever wanted to see my father." Maka whimpered.  
Tsubaki sat there, appalled.  
"What the hell?" Soul protested.

Tori and Davis were walking to school just like any other day.  
"Davis, if you're going to waste your time on the internet, at least watch the cool stuff."  
"Like what?"  
"Like, the memes. Or viral videos."  
"Those are stupid."  
"What? They're awesome! You're just a boring negative person! Do you even know any memes?"  
"One, the troll face. I bet that you can't even make that face in real life."  
Tori never backed down from competition, no matter how stupid and pointless. "Oh yeah? I bet five bucks that I'll be able to make the troll face today."  
Davis scoffed. "Sure, why not."  
Tori tried, hard to twist her face into a comical emotion, but to no avail. Davis burst into laughter. After a while Tori gave up, grumpy.  
"I'm just not inspired. I need to troll someone first." She pouted.  
"Go ahead and try. Better get your wallet ready Tori." Davis walked away, still laughing.  
Later that day, Tori waited outside the door to 's class. She held a tape measure. "Ok, you're tall enough to enter. Yup, you're tall enough."  
She spotted Davis. "Oh, hi Davis." She measured her friend. "Sorry, you're not tall enough to enter."  
Davis didn't listen and tried to force himself past her.  
She pushed him back. "I'm sorry sir. You're too short. You could try that rid over there. It's very fun!" She pointed to the exit.|  
The bell rang and she dashed into the classroom, locking the door behind her.  
glanced over at the door, but shrugged it off. "Today we're going to dissect a frog." Stein announced.  
The students groaned, they had done the same thing yesterday. Meanwhile Davis was stuck, trying to get into the classroom. Eventually he got tired and pounded on the door. "Hey! Let me in! I'm locked out!"  
Lord death walked by, curious where the noise was coming from."Reaper Chop!" Lord Death hit Davis harshly on the head. "Davis, why are you making do much noise?" He questioned.  
"I've been locked out Lord Death." Davis grumbled, rubbing his head.  
"Reaper chop! That's what you get for being late." Lord Death scolded.  
"Sir!" Davis replied weakly. "I wasn't allowed in! My partner said I was too short to enter!"  
"Reaper chop! I don't care what happened at your fun fair! If you don't take it seriously, I'm going to hit you again."  
Davis opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. His head hung low. "Yes sir." He cast a glare at Tori. Wait, what? What is Tori doing? Is she making a troll face?  
"See Davis. I told you it was possible to make a troll face." She snickered and paid attention to her class again.  
That day, Davis swore he would get Tori back.


	10. Confusion

Maria stared outside the window, listening to the heavy tapping of rain.  
The rain was her only companion in the silent room. The taste of salt lingered. Within moments tears fell like rain, staining what was left of her new dress. If you could call it a dress. What used to be blue like her eyes, what used to gently draped over her skin, was reduced to filthy rags. "Ugly rags for an ugly girl." The other children sneered. The taunts of the children didn't hurt her. What hurt her was that she agreed. No parents would love a child like her. Not even the teachers tried to help her, so they must hate her too. She never liked the teachers anyways. That's why she was never nice to them, they deserved it. People are ugly anyways. Her heart became heavier, because she must be the ugliest of all. She couldn't even look at the window anymore in fear of seeing her own reflection. Maria climbed out the window, brown hair twisting and flying around her. She carefully climbed the walls of the orphanage she used to call home. She perched her feet on the ground and ran. She didn't know why, or from what, but she ran away. Clumsy little Maria slipped and fell. It was the last thing Maria did. Her soul was already gone.

Maka and Soul were in Canada, walking casually through the streets.  
"Hey Maka, while we're here why don't we get some ribs and maple syrup?" Soul grinned at the thought of food. Delicious. Maple. Syrup.  
"Maka chop!" Soul was food-blocked by Maka and a book. Deadly combination. "Soul, start being serious! We're here to work. Work comes first, indefinitely." She scolded.  
"You didn't have to hit me." Soul grumbled.  
Maka ignored the remark and refocused on the paper she held in her hand. "It says here that there was a series of killings in a small town."  
Soul chuckled. "That town was built upon what used to be a first nations village. The people ate corn constantly." Soul's mind drifted off, thinking of sweet roasted corn. Corn. Tasty. Yum.  
"Soul!" Maka hit him with her book again. She was still irritated by his remark but managed to refocus. "In that case we should probably visit the library of the area and research."  
It was dark and cool outside.  
Maka and Soul approached the school cautiously. The crickets softly chirped, and the moon was chuckling ominously. Maka stepped forward and gently pushed the doors open.  
"It's unlocked." She commented.  
"Cool." Soul replied.

The hallways were long and dark. It was silent besides the tapping of the partner's footsteps. There seemed to be a lingering feeling of insecurity within the building. The footsteps gently tapped against the cold hard tiling, searching the area.  
"Hey Maka, you sure this is the place?"  
"Positive." Maka paused. "There's a human soul in here."  
"It's probably just the teacher or something." Soul dismissed.  
There was an eerie silence, when a powerful gust of wind forced it's way into the building. The shrill sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the hallway. Maka froze.  
"Maka? What's wrong?"  
"I, I'm sensing a wavelength. Something, but it's very weak and scattered all over the place. It's, moving." Maka answered, unsure.  
"It's probably just your imagination. We should have ate. I bet it's from lack of food."  
Maka looked annoyed, but stayed calm focusing on the strange signals. There was a sudden shrill scream from the upper floor, shattering her concentration.  
"Soul!"  
"Right!" Immediately, Soul turned into a scythe. Maka grabbed the weapon and flew up the stairs. She pounded on the door, it wouldn't open. In the midst of the event, she kicked it down. The screams grew louder, as Maka ran through the hall. She caught a glimpse of a man through a window. She raced into the classroom, but nothing was there. The man was gone. The screaming seemed like it was never there. So was the soul.  
"The soul, it's gone. But there was never anything else there." Maka froze.  
"That's crazy Maka! There has got to be a kishin egg somewhere around here. Soul's don't disappear into thin air!"  
"You saw the man through the window too, didn't you?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then how did he disappear so fast? Without a trace, or a kishin egg in sight?"  
Soul couldn't answer that.

Maka explained the event to Lord Death.  
"I see. That does seem quite odd." Lord Death replied, in a cheerful voice. "I'll have to look into it."  
The partners nodded simply.  
"Good job Maka. Daddy's proud of you." Spirit chimed.  
"You're not my father. You're pride doesn't mean anything."  
Spirit turned completely white and froze for a moment. The call ended there. He hid in a corner, depression hovering around him. "Maka!" He wailed in tears.  
Lord Death was far past irritated now. "I told you if you didn't shut up that I would use reaper chop to split your head open!"

Davis was talking with Tori outside the DWMA.  
The two were talking and looking at their old photos. Davis chuckled. Everything was going according to his plan. He would find Tori's embarrassing photos and post them on DeathBook for the world to see. "Aww! Don't I look so cute! I was so small!" Tori fawned over the photos. Davis frowned. Things were not going according to plan. Tori looked good in all of her old photos. "That girl's so pretty Davis!" Tori grabbed a photograph. "Is this your sister?"  
Davis struggled to compose himself. "No actually. That's me."  
"Oh." Tori's face fell. "Oh. Uh, at least I called you pretty? I could've said 'ew who's that ugly bitch'." She laughed nervously. Oh god. She screwed up that time. Okay, she wanted to just abort this conversation. Abort. Abort! "So, it's a great day today."  
"Yeah. It's like the day I took that photo. The one where you thought I was a girl."  
This wasn't working for Tori. "So, yeah. I beat up some chick. It was a really bitchy thing of me to do."  
"Well, I guess it's better than saying 'who's that ugly bitch.' "  
Just the Black Star walked behind the two. Tori breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Hey guys! Black Star is here! You're lives are awesome again!" He then noticed the photo. "Who's that ugly girl. Well guess she doesn't look that great in a comparison to a great star like me, so you understand."  
Tori turned away. The event became far too awkward. Black Star kept rambling on about his greatness. Davis calmly reminded himself that he would be able to get back at her. Another time.


	11. Stealing Beast

Tori and Davis were in New York.

Tori scanned the area for what seemed like the fiftieth time. She sighed, unable to recall a time more boring than her current state. The duo had taken up one of the less thrilling tasks, thanks to Davis. However, Davis looked completely relaxed and content. At least he was enjoying himself. Tori checked her watch again. Eleven o' clock. Patrolling an area was no fun at all. These people are safe, so what's the point? Tori cursed Davis for persuading her into such an awful event.

"Alright Tori. It's been an hour, we better get to our bus stop."

"Sure. Whatever." Oh joy. A bus. A slow, boring bus. With boring everyday people. Just great.

The two pushed their way through a huge group of people eventually making it to the bus stop.

"Damn. We're late." Tori muttered, kicking an empty can.

"I'll just call over a taxi then." Davis said simply.

"Nah. I'll do it." Tori promptly walked into the middle of the road. "Taxi!" She screamed. Davis grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

"Tori. What are you doing?"

"Getting a taxi."

"By walking in the middle of a road?"

"It's the cool way. I saw it in a movie."

Davis shook his head. He should have saw it coming. His eyes wandered and he caught a glimpse of a phone booth. Perfect. When he finished calling a taxi he turned to Tori.

"That, Tori, is how you call a taxi the right way."

Tori glared at Davis. He was such a simpleton. "Davis, you need to learn to stop being so dull."

Davis smirked and shrugged. "Take us to the airport."

Without a questions the cab speeded off. Finally. Tori stared at the window, relieved to finally be doing something interesting. The landscape sped by. Tori smiled. She wished to become that fast one day. She let her eyes wander around. Tori heard a gasp followed by a sharp pain in her head.

"What the hell?" She was shaken, unable to tell wether the gasp was hers or not.

"Sir? Are you okay? Hey! Wake up!" Davis urged, shaking the shoulder of the driver.

The man sat there motionless. Then he stirred, and started to sob. "Oh god. Please help." He whispered in-between gasps for breath.

"What's gotten into you? What's wrong?" Davis asked, urgency slipping into his voice. The man only started to sob louder.

"Davis! The streets are empty!" Tori interrupted.

"What? How is that possible?" He looked out the window, but only saw pitch black.

The man stopped sobbing. Davis stood there paralyzed, unable to make sense of anything. He couldn't even think, because the man started to scream. Within moments the shrill sound of the mans voice started to sound inhuman. Right in front of Davis, barely an arms length away, the man turned into a black liquid, and he was gone.

"Oh my god. What the hell?" Tori yelped.

"Tori, we need to get out of this car. Now." Davis commanded.

Tori didn't question it. She shook the lever. "It won't open!"

"Weapon form." Davis grabbed the double bladed sword and reduced the door to a heap of metal. He lurched out the car, and found himself standing in the same black liquid. Quickly he scurried away, not sure what the substance even was. Tori turned back to human form. She grabbed a flashlight out of her coat, turning it on instinctively. "Isn't this the same on that you told me not to buy?How unnecessary is it now Davis?" Tori joked, laughing nervously.

Davis brushed off the comment and focused on the liquid. "Tori, how about we get a better look at this stuff?" Tori flashed the light towards the ground. She quickly regretted it. The, thing, screeched inhumanly and slithered off. She flashed light around the entire area. The screeched echoed infinitely. She saw the liquid, crawl and slither away everywhere. She stifled a scream. There was an ominous silence. Then, footsteps.

"What was that?" Tori jumped, swinging the flashlight behind her. There was nothing but a glass wall. She glared "Davis. Do you think we can fight that thing?"

"I don't know."

Within moments, they were given no other choice. Whatever that thing was, was already forming something. The upper body of a little girl, bottom half a snake, and eight large spider legs coming out of it's back. It was more like a dark silhouette of the form. It let out a shrill scream. The same scream as the driver.

"Tori. Weapon form." Tori obeyed immediately.

"Do you think, it copied that scream from the man?" Tori asked while in her sword form.

"More like stole."

"So, all the other attributes." Tori's voice trailed off, she suddenly felt sick. "How dare it murder an innocent little girl." She scowled. Within soon Davis was dodging arms smashing into the ground. He blocked another with his weapon, and had to roll to dodge another. He scrambled to get to his feet, before being impaled by another.

"That damned freak. Does it even understand human language?"

"Probably not." Davis responded, jumping to avoid another arm.

"Well, it better understand this. That man is the last thing it's ever going to steal. If it thinks it's going to steal us then it's sadly mistaken. Davis, we're going to be the ones looming over it's corpse, and we're going to be the ones stealing it's soul."

"Does it even have a soul?"

Tori scoffed. "We're going to find out when we tear it apart limb by limb."

Davis dodged another bunch of arms. He felt a sharp pain in his left arm. He was pierced by two fangs. What was left of the little girl, smiled a crooked, eerie smile. The expression only left Tori's blood boiling, yearning for the beast dead. Davis gritted his teeth and chopped off one of the arm that held him hostage. He didn't even realize it due to the pain. His eyes flickered around the creature, burning into his mind every single attribute he saw. Quickly, he calculated and moved accordingly to every single attack. The arm smashed just inches away from him. Quickly, he ran up the arm of the black beast and sliced it's head off. With an inhuman scream, the head fell to the ground. Tori smirked as Davis walked away.

"Looks like it doesn't have a soul Tori. Better luck next time."

"Davis! Look out!" Tori yelped.

The next thing Davis saw was Tori's body on the ground, limp. Davis kneeled beside his partner. He froze.

"Tori, you idiot. Why do you always have to play the hero?"

He watched the head he chopped off turn to liquid, and crawl up the body, only to materialize again. With a swift blow, Davis fell onto the ground. He looked up, face full of frustration and anger. The next attack never hit them. The arms of the monster moved back quickly. The beast, paused then fled. Davis just stayed there, holding his partner, unable to process what just happened.

Tori and Davis sat quietly at the table.

Davis was reading a book, while Tori stared out the window of their apartment.

"Hey, Davis."

"Tori, if you want to make fun of me again then I'm not listening."

"No, it's not that." Tori paused. "You knew that form manipulation would hurt me, didn't you?"

Davis paused for a moment, his face revealing nothing. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me anything about it?" Tori leaned into the table.

"I didn't want to tell you."

"I have every right to know Davis. We're partners, so if we're going to work together we need to trust each other. This affects me personally, I need to know."

Davis's brow furrowed, as if he was calculating wether or not to tell Tori. "I didn't want to worry you." His eyes shifted slightly. He stared down at the book in his hands, but Tori could tell he wasn't reading it.

"Davis. Don't lie."

Davis exhaled deeply. "I'll tell you later."

Tori hesitated. "Alright." She barely whispered and walked off.


End file.
